The Importance of Behavior
by Alena McKells
Summary: Behavior is something that is somewhat important. Impeccable behavior is something that is incredibly important to people of society. Well, high soiety anyway. Lucius learns that sometimes, even the wealthy don't always get what they truly want.
1. Prologue

**The Importance of Behavior**

_By Alena McKells_

:: Prologue :: 

Behavior. Behavior is something that is somewhat important. Impeccable behavior is something that is incredibly important to people of society. Well, high society anyway. I have always been taught to be the utmost gentleman in every situation possible. To be quite frank with all of you, I don't rightly know how I've done it all these years. My life has been nothing but watercress brunches, exquisite dinners, and fancy parties. I've hob-knobbed with the wealthy and partied with the famous. I've been taught to learn the simple difference between new-money and old-money. Though, I am very sure that there is no difference. Everything is same when you have money. Some behavior is a tradition, handed down through legacies. Some behavior is the result of conduct lessons and long, dreadful hours of study.

Now, being the youngest child in my family I will never fully understand how behavior altered the course of my life. I had three sole duties in life; get married to the woman of my father's choice, bestow upon him an heir, and makes as much money as I could humanly make. Simple, no? Of course, when I explain things like that they are. I truly believe that no one has any idea how complicated my life really is.

I suppose that it would do well to explain my brother and sister, and the impact they've had involvement in my life. Lilith, my sister, has always been the level-headed mind in the family. Very sweet and kind, very unbecoming of a Malfoy. She was the first-born, you know. No one ever notices because she and my brother Lysander are so close in age. Nine months, in fact. Lysander is the calculating one. Cold and brutally cruel. Perfect for work in the Minister's office or something of the sort. He's the first person to strike you if you've done something that isn't in compliance to his plans. Myself? Oh, I'm the _happy accident_. The little _mistake_ that was made by my parents. Oh, of course no one has ever sad that to my face. Though I know, from the way Lysander looks at me, that I am.

I am merely a doll for my family to play with. My father shall dictate where I attend school, who I shall marry, who I shall go into business with. My mother chooses the clothing I shall wear, the style to which I keep my hair. Acquaintances are chosen for me. I am merely a sparrow locked in the cage longing to be set free. I am the second son. I am the _fleur oubliée_ as Lilith had put it to me as a child.

_Fluer oubliee_, the forgotten flower. Always known about but never really recognized. My life has been perfect thus far. Poised to graduate from the most prestigous school in the Wizarding World. The world is lying down at my feet and I could do anything, _anything_ with my life. The world's my proverbial oyster, as the Muggles would say. Everything was perfect, or what I believed was perfect. Then, she appeared. She could have ruined everything. To be frank, she almost did ruin everything...


	2. Chapter One

**The Importance of Behavior**

_by Alena McKells_

:: Lesson One One Should Never Be Intimidated By One's Elders:: 

Lucius brushed the imaginary lint from his black trousers lazily. Today was Friday and Lucius always hated Fridays. Fridays meant morning assembly, pop quizzes and the weekly prefects' meeting. Not that he hated being a prefect, that role came with many advantages. Though, the eight A.M. assembly was most definitely not necessary. Especially on a Friday when there was a large Quidditch match coming over the weekend. Lucius flicked the fringe away from his eyes, peering around at the other students. A good chunk of his house, Slytherin, was asleep. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff too, it seemed, had decided to drop off during the Headmaster's weekly speech. The Ravenclaws seemed to be somewhat attentive, though most were reading. Stretching his legs, Lucius slouched slightly in his seat. Listening to Albus Dumbledore at eight forty-five in the morning was not how he wanted to start the day. He felt something heavy drop against his shoulder and turned to see Rudolphus Lestrange asleep and drooling on the seat cushion. Disgusted, Lucius gently pushed him over to the other side of his seat. He looked down at this watch. It was eight minutes to nine. Eight more minutes and he'd be free of the Professor's droning.

"...and this concludes this week's assembly." There was a sigh of relief around the assembly hall. "Though I must ask all of the Fifth years to stay behind. I would like to speak to you all privately."

There was groaning around the hall as Fifth years sank lower in their seat and beaming smiles from everyone else. Lucius nudged Rudolphus awake and Bellatrix Black came over and sat down next to him. She looked extremely disgruntled.

"We shouldn't be here, we need to be on the pitch." said Bellatrix. "The man is trying to sabotage us."

Rudolphus yawned. "I highly doubt that."

"What do you mean by that?" said Bellatrix, looking slightly scandalized. "He's never appreciated us Slytherins, everyone knows it!"

"He's going to talk to us about the 'peer tutoring' program again. I believe we're being matched with our partners today."

"Really?" asked Lucius.

"Yes." said Rudolphus flatly. "He mentioned it at the beginning of assembly. Weren't you paying attention?"

"Apparently not."

"And _you_ were the one who was awake the whole time." Rudolphus shook his head.

"Hush!" whispered Bellatrix. "The Headmaster's talking."

"Ah, my wonderful Fifth years. The time has come and you have all reached the your final year of instruction. I hope that you are finding your final tenure at Hogwarts to be enlightening and I must suspect that you are all preparing yourselves properly for your N.E.W.T. examinations at the end of term." Dumbledore surveyed the small class before him. "As such, it is your duty as the eldest members of the school's population to give back to your peers. You will be assigned a Third year student. You assist them with homework, class projects, and help them prepare for the O.W.L.s." There was a light murmur around the assembly hall. "Now, I need all of you to line yourself up in alphabetical order, A's starting on the left." The was a massive sound of people getting up.

"This is ridiculous." said Lucius glibly.

Rudolphus looked at him. "You knew it was coming. We had to go through it, now we're on the other side."

"I still find it ridiculous."

Rudolphus just rolled his eyes.

Lucius and Rudolphus stood in line to receive their Third year assignment. Bellatrix had ended up some unknown Hufflepuff and was extremely miffed about it. Rudolphus had ended up with Alphonse Saulvonier, an overconfident Gryffindor. Lucius had felt he ended up with the worst partner of the three of them. He'd been paired with Emmeline Potter. True enough, she was a Ravenclaw, but she was still a Potter. With two Gryffindor older brothers.

"I'm going to be killed." said Lucius stiffly as they walked out of the assembly hall.

Bellatrix inspected her nails. "Yeah, I suppose you are."

"Such kind, uplifting words." said Lucius. "You really know how to boost my self-confidence, Bella."

Rudolphus snorted. "Like your self-confidence _needs_ a boost..."

"Oh, shut up." snapped Lucius.

"It could be worse." said Bellatrix. "You could be stuck with a Hufflepuff." A group of Hufflepuffs tuned to glare sharply at her. "Atleast she's a Ravenclaw. You probably only have to sit there and watch. Maybe find texts for her from time to time. It should be easy."

"Hmm..." was all Lucius said.

'Easy' was hardly the word to use to describe Lucius's first session with Emmeline. Her brother James was sitting in the chair next to her, looking extremely, wand clutched tightly in his right hand. Emmeline kept telling him to leave, that she would be fine because she was fifteen not five years old. James seemed rooted to the spot. Eventually he was shooed away by Madam Pince, saying that all tutorial sessions were one-on-one. James sneered at Lucius before leaving Emmeline and Lucius alone. Lucius would never admit that he like the woman, but he was very grateful to her crow-like eyes and her strict consideration of rules.

"I'm sorry about James." said Emmeline quietly. "Ever since he found out you were my peer tutor, he's been having hissy-fits all over the Common room. He seems to think that you have... Er... _plans _for me."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Plans?" Emmeline nodded. "How presumptious of him. It was fairly obvious to me that you don't really need my assistance with any of your work. Any _plans_ that I may have had do not concern you. You can tell your brother to stop fearing for your safety. I'm not going to kill you."

"He seems to think otherwise."

"Do you think otherwise?" asked Lucius.

"No." replied Emmeline flatly. "I'm not intimidated by someone like you."

"And you shouldn't be." Lucius smirked. "I'm not a very scary person."

Emmeline gave Lucius a small smile. "No, no you are not."


	3. Chapter Two

**The Importance of Behavior**

_by Alena McKells_

:: Chapter Two :: 

"Emmie, you're like the luckiest girl in the world..."

Emmeline looked up from her book. "How so, Narcissa?"

"Your peer tutor is Lucius Malfoy..." said Narcissa dreamily. "He's absolutely scrumptious."

"You cannot be serious." said Emmeline flatly.

"Oh, she's deathly serious, Emme." said Alayna, her fellow housemate. "I think that our dear Narcissa has had a crush on Mister Malfoy since she first arrived at Hogwarts. It's quite pathetic."

Narcissa looked scandalized. "It is most certainly _not_ pathetic! Just look at him!" She took on at dreamily look. "Platinum hair, silver-bright eyes, all that creamy alabastor skin... He's a complete sensual being." Narcissa sighed deeply. "The way he carries himself with an air aristocracy is positively orgasmic."

Emmeline and Alayna looked astounded. "She did not just say that..." said Alayna.

"I think she did." replied Emmeline.

"I think I'm disgusted."

Narcissa colored deeply. "Oh shut up, you two! You wouldn't know real beauty if it sat on the end of your nose!" She crammed her schoolbooks into her bag and stormed out of the library.

Emmeline and Alayna looked extremely offended.

"How long do you think that she'll be on nonverbal terms with us?" asked Emmeline.

"A week, max." replied Alayna. "Unless she feels truly offended, then two."

Narcissa did not speak to Alayna or Emmeline for the rest of first term. Both of them we're so shocked that their friend had taken their teasing to heart. Both had apologised profusely but nothing seemed to work. It was then that Emmeline began to realize the amount of envious looks she received as she walked out of the library with Lucius. She admitted that Lucius Malfoy was a nice-looking individual, but no more so than any other attractive male in the Hogwarts population. There was nothing particular about him that drew Emmeline's fancy. Apparently, she and Alayna were the only ones immune to Lucius' charming looks. With the Christmas holiday vast approaching, people began to get ansty in lessons, longing to play outside in the freshly fallen snow. Though, even more ansty to see who the Fifth years were taking to the Ministry's Yuletide Gala.

Now the Ministry's Yuletide Gala was a time where graduating students met with Ministry officials and made contacts of sorts. It was also a time for Fifth years to get very absurdly drunk and indulged their tastes that were quite frowned upon on the school premises. Fourth and Third years were also allowed to attend, only if they were invited or they had a family member attending. Most of the Fifth years were outright asking their partners, but some—mainly the Slytherins—had preferred to send anonomyus owls to those they wished to take.

"Emme, you've got mail." said Alayna, waving a pale gold envelope in Emmeline's face.

"How lovely."

She tore open the envelope and inside laid a crisp white card with embellished French in dark grey ink. It read:

_Madame Emmeline,_

_It voudrait dire beaucoup à moi si vous accepteriez mon invitation. Le gala n'a pas lieu pendant encore trois semaines, ainsi je donnerai le temps où vous devez prendre votre décision. Veuillez envoyer la réponse aussitôt que possible. _

_Sincèrement,_

_Un professeur de la mauvaise foi_

"_Un professeur de la mauvaise foi_?" asked Alayna, peering over Emmeline's shoulder.

"A profess—_no_—teacher of..." Emmeline scruntinized the passage. "Bad faith?"

Alayna sat back in her chair, fingers tapping against her eyebrow. "Bad faith, someone you know of bad faith. It couldn't be Harper Dunwolle, could it? He's possibly the worst Catholic I've ever seen."

"No, I think the meaning is a bit more literal than that." said Emmeline, she reread the note. "Do you think 'bad faith' is the meaning of this person's name, not a play on their actual faith?"

"It could be." Alayna looked skeptical. "But who knows, your French is much better than mine."

"Hm..."

Emmeline had fretted over the letter she'd received the week prior. Now that everyone was packed and ready to venture home for the holidays, Emmeline thought that she might never figure out who this mystery man was. Alayna had seemingly washed her hands of the whole matter. She told Emmeline that if she did not figure out whom the man was, she should write him back, declining the invitation to the Gala.

"You know you can go with your father." said Alayna. "All Ministry officials must attend."

"Yes, but I've been asked. I should atleast show courtesy and go with someone who's invited me." replied Emmeline.

"But you don't even know who the person is!" exclaimed Alayna. "I say you give up, move on, and have a happy Christmas."

Emmeline crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe I should ask Lucius, his French is impeccable."

"You do that."

completed 06.20.2007


End file.
